John was consecrated on Oct. 3, 701. When the Byzantine commander Theophylactus invaded the Italian mainland from Sicily, John protected him from the local reaction; and when Gisulfo, the Lombard duke of Benevento, crossed the southern frontier of Roman territory, John ransomed captives and induced bribed him to withdraw. In his only extant letter, John ordered the restoration of the deposed bishop St. Wilfrid of York.